Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Recently a VFX company famous for de-aging actors in recent films has come under some legal trouble and court documents revealed that they may have been working on a Star Wars film. This may line up with rumors saying we would see a young Princess Leia Organa in Rogue One.

The film most discussed in the article is Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt’s The Passengers, but the part about Digital Domain also capturing another well-known actress for a science fiction film sequel definitely raises eyebrows. As Star Wars aficionados we know that Star Wars isn’t really sci-fi, and Rogue One isn’t really a sequel, but in the industry terms like these are often used to simplify things.

With the legal issues surrounding Digital Domain’s VFX it’s hard to say if they captured Carrie Fisher, and if it would even make it to the film. I’m personally onboard with the de-aging (hello Ant-Man and Civil War), but also don’t think a Leia cameo in Rogue One is necessary at all. We will find out for sure in December.

Han Solo

The latest Han Solo rumor is that star Alden Ehrenreich has been contracted for three Star Wars films, leading many to theorize that there may be a Han Solo trilogy coming. A source spoke to the NY Daily News and had this to say about Solo:

“They feel that his character has the right potential to become a central figure in several movies,” our source said. “They’re keeping things under wraps at the moment, but the deal is that he has signed for at least three movies.”

It’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility that a successful Han Solo film could bloom into a trilogy, but the contract could be a “just in case” situation. Disney and Lucasfilm both have a history of locking down actors early to have available for other films within a franchise or universe. From everything we’ve heard, the spin-off Star Wars stories are not going to have sequels, but if the first Han Solo film is a hit, it would be stupid not to continue to use the character.

In other Han news, we got confirmation from the head honcho herself that Han will not be appearing in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Because of the rush to cast a young Han Solo before Rogue One finished filming, it was speculated by many that he may have a very small cameo in the film. Kathleen Kennedy spoke to Extra at Star Wars Celebration London and shut down that rumor.

Kennedy also goes on to say that Hayden Christensen will not be appearing in Rogue One which is interesting because I didn’t even realize that was a thought. Many have hoped and guessed he may appear in Episode VIII as a Force ghost, but never in Rogue One. Oh well, at least we got a firm no anyway.

Live-Action Star Wars Television

As a fan of George Lucas’s talent, I will never stop being interested in hearing about the now dead Star Wars live-action television series that was in development. Last month we got minor details about one of the show’s storylines for Emperor Sheev Palpatine, and now writer Matthew Graham is talking about his experience working on the project. The most interesting thing he had to say was that the 50 scripts done for the show are very much still being looked at.

I went up and saw Lucasfilm in their new offices at Disney while they were still in prep on Episode VII. I know that they’ve got the scripts, and that the scripts have been read. But what they plan to do with it, there’s a big long term strategy for Star Wars that’s being formulated, and only a few people are actually privy to what that entails!

Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has also said in the past that the Star Wars Underworld show and video game Star Wars: 1313 are still something that the company is looking at for potential material. It appears that Underworld was going to be an anthology series and as great as it would have been to see how Han got the Millennium Falcon or see Boba Fett on new adventures in a stunning HBO-style production, we now have the opportunity to get all of that as films! I’m amazed and overjoyed that Kennedy and crew have 50 scripts George Lucas helped to develop from which to expand and create more Star Wars stories.